Beatles

MUSIC
Music is an art form whose medium is sound. Common elements of music are pitch (which governs melody and harmony), rhythm (and its associated concepts tempo, meter, and articulation), dynamics, and the sonic qualities of timbre and texture. The word derives from Greekμουσική (mousike), "(art) of the Muses.

The creation, performance, significance, and even the definition of music varyaccording to culture and social context. Music ranges from strictly organized compositions (and their recreation in performance), through improvisational music to aleatoric forms. Music can be divided into genres and subgenres, although the dividing lines and relationships between music genres are often subtle, sometimes open to individual interpretation, and occasionally controversial. Within "thearts," music may be classified as a performing art, a fine art, and auditory art. There is also a strong connection between music and mathematics.

To many people in many cultures music is an important part of their way of life. Greek philosophers and ancient Indian philosophers defined music as tones ordered horizontally as melodies and vertically as harmonies. Common sayings such as "theharmony of the spheres" and "it is music to my ears" point to the notion that music is often ordered and pleasant to listen to. However, 20th-century composer John Cagethought that any sound can be music, saying, for example, "There is no noise, only sound.

 Musicologist Jean-Jacques Nattiezsummarizes the relativist, post-modern viewpoint: "The border between music and noise is always culturallydefined—which implies that, even within a single society, this border does not always pass through the same place; in short, there is rarely a consensus ... By all accounts there is no single and intercultural universal concept defining what music might be.

THE BEATLES

British rock group that came to personify the counterculture of the 1960s. Its principal members, all born in Liverpool, Eng.,were Paul McCartney, John Lennon, George Harrison, and Ringo Starr. The group began with the pairing of McCartney and Lennon in 1956; Harrison joined in 1957, and Stu Sutcliffe and Pete Best later. In 1960 they adopted the name the Beatles. In 1962 they signed a recording contract and replaced Best with Starr (Sutcliffe had left the group in 1961). The release in 1962 – 63 of such songs as "PleasePlease Me" and "I Want to Hold Your Hand" made them England's most popular rock group, and in 1964 "Beatlemania" struck the U.S. Originally inspired by Chuck Berry, Elvis Presley, Little Richard, and Buddy Holly, among others, their direct, energetic songs kept them at the top of the pop charts.

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Their long hair and tastes in dress were influential throughout the world, as were theirexperimentation with hallucinogenic drugs and Indian mysticism and their involvement with the politics of peace. From 1965 to 1967 the Beatles' music rapidly evolved, becoming increasingly subtle, sophisticated, and varied — ranging from ballads such as "Yesterday" to the psychedelic hard rock of "Tomorrow Never Knows." Their public performances ended in 1966. Albums such as RubberSoul (1965), Revolver (1966), and The Beatles ("White Album," 1968) set new trends in rock. In 1967 they produced Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, an album novel for its conception as a dramatic whole, use of electronic music, and character as a studio work not reproducible onstage. They appeared in the films A Hard Day's Night (1964) and Help! (1965). The group dissolved in 1970. In 1988 the Beatles wereinducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and Lennon (1994), McCartney (1999), and Harrison (2004) were also inducted as solo performers.
On February 7, 1964, the Beatles arrived at Kennedy International Airport in New York City, met by 110 police officers and a mob of more than 10, 000 screaming fans. The British Invasion - and in particular, "Beatlemania" - had begun, and the "mop-topped"...